how I teach reading – EAST WILLOW PLACE

How I’m Raising Eager Readers: Part Three

I want my kids to love reading and to have good feelings about it! Pushing through when they’re having a hard time or are feeling poorly is a sure-fire way to create resentment and frustration, not to mention significant weepiness. (And that’s not even talking about my kid’s reaction.)

When Reading Runs Amuck: How I Combat Some Reading-Time Challenges

Sometimes reading time slants sideways even before the book is opened.

Yes, even for my family of book-lovers, these times come too. The whining and complaining starts, and bargaining for a really short lesson or a different activity begins. Thirst, hunger, exhaustion and mental fatigue strike with astonishing speed, and the chores that earlier seemed so tedious and unimportant suddenly appear fascinating and urgent. Kids who can intently focus on a game or something else they enjoy suddenly can’t seem to hold still or concentrate for more than three seconds.

Here’s the list of questions I run through to figure out how to triage the reading blues:

1. Is there a physical need or problem my child is facing?

Are they tired, hungry, or cranky? Are they dealing with a cold or another ailment? If any of these things are a yes, I will try to cut the lesson shorter, or just shelve it till we have resolved the problem. Otherwise it’s just not worth the emotional struggle.

2. Is there a natural personality or behavioral trait at work, or is this abnormal behavior?

Are they naturally more energetic and wiggly, finding sitting still a challenge?

If it’s squirminess within that particular child’s normal range, I try to work with it instead of fighting it, especially at a young age. As they grow older and gain more self control, sitting or standing still can be worked on with less resistance and greater ease.

Some people have a natural tendency to concentrate better while they’re moving – even as adults. Instead of fighting this and making everyone miserable, I figure, why not be creative and plan to accommodate the wiggle? Reading becomes so much more pleasant and successful!

I have had one son, my earliest reader, stand next to me while I sat on the floor with the reading book. He squirmed, waved his arms, hugged himself, kicked his legs, and bounced around me the whole time – but he was actively reading the sounds. He did an amazing job – but I had to be willing to adjust to his unorthodox, squirmy method of learning with patience and grace. I now have fond memories of these reading lessons, since I saw the rapid progress he made when he was free to physically move as he needed.

I do try my best to gauge whether it is a natural energetic movement where the child is still able to focus and concentrate well on the reading, or if the wiggles are just a sign of boredom or resistance to facing a challenge. If I’m finding that my child is distracted and unable to read while wiggling, then I do encourage more deliberately quiet positioning, but perhaps after a timed period of short exercise like five laps around the back yard or twenty burpees as fast as possible!

3. Is this a learning area that they have been finding an ongoing challenge or is this new?

Some kids just naturally take to reading. While they may have some rocky patches and off-days, in general the path from letters to sounds to words and sentences is generally straight and mostly smooth.

Other children’s experience can be more challenging – like they suddenly were thrown off a safe, high cliff into deep and murky waters where every vowel sound changes ominously and compound sounds lurk like sharks. (At least, that’s the impression I get from reading with them!)

Some kids really do need more time and help with reading. One of mine requires extra patience and persistence, since it seems that almost every lesson something previously learned is forgotten and we’ve lost some ground. We have been making good progress in spite of the setbacks, however, and it’s important for me to remember to look back and see how far we’ve come, and the overall general success we’ve already achieved!

Any learning challenge can potentially be very draining, discouraging, and exasperating for both parent and child. It’s important to hold on and just keep going in short, cheery bursts as often as possible, celebrating small victories with a big smile and sincere excitement (and maybe a small treat or a fun activity.)

Consistence with persistence… and get assistance if you need it! There is so much more information and help available nowadays for parents who are helping children through dyslexia and other learning issues, and sometimes the best way to teach your child to read is to let someone else help you do it if you’re struggling, with no guilt or shame about it.

Here’s to raising eager readers!

How I’m Raising Eager Readers (Part Two)

My Method in the Madness

In a large family with so many littles, I’ve had to streamline and simplify how I teach reading.

I use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (by Siegfied Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox & Elaine Bruner, Touchstone Publishing) with a significant twist!

This battered copy has been through six children so far… starting the seventh sometime later this year!

If you are at all familiar with this book, you know that the sounds and words to be taught are in a large, bold font. After the first introductory lessons which do not have stories, each lesson has a simple picture with a “story” (some of only a sentence or two, others much longer) for the child to read which practices the sounds and words they learned. (Some of these stories are a hoot, and my children grew to anticipate whatever funny story they would read that day!)

This book uses a special orthographic (how words are spelled) font so that children become familiar with the sounds certain letters make without being confused by sound rules.

Each lesson also comes with a carefully detailed script – both for the parent to say/teach (in pink print) and an expected response from the child for each lesson. They also give writing exercises, rhyming activities, picture comprehension questions, and multiple questions/answers throughout each lesson.

Confession time: I only focus on the bold print when I teach my children reading from this book.

Yep, I brazenly ignore all the fine print, writing exercises, rhyming, and multiple admonishments for repeated readings. (I know, shocking!)

This way there is a lot less drag and irritation from the slow progress, and my kids and I can zip through the first several lessons without even breaking a sweat. Because the book starts very simply, teaching only two sounds in the first lesson, then slowly building each time, I often find that my child can easily cover multiple lessons in the early days, then as the reading increases and the stories at the end become a little longer, we “slow down” to about two or so for each reading session. (One of my children was so excited by her progress that she insisted on covering about four to five lessons each time we worked on her reading!)

Here’s my method in the madness, broken down:

1. I use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, but teach using only the bold text without following the script.

I use it as a resource, not a mandated method. My kids react with irritation if I try to slowly go through all fine-print script, slowing us all down and increasing frustration. When I let it go, they start to fly through the lessons with increasing enthusiasm and excitement. It is an easy choice.

2. I use the actual lessons as a general guide, but go at the pace my child sets, rather than insisting he/she completes a set number of lessons or pages.

If we are struggling through one lesson and don’t even finish and ten minutes is up, I often say cheerily, “OK, let’s get to the end of this line (or to the bottom of this page) and then let’s stop for the day! Great work so far!” because then my child knows the end is in sight and is encouraged to keep going for just a little longer.

I try to generally aim for about ten minutes at least for “reading time” with me, in addition to whatever books they read to themselves or each other before bedtime or during quiet time.

Once in a while, I know my child is just being a punk and decided that he/she doesn’t feel like doing the work of reading that day. So then I will tell them that they need to complete a page (or a lesson) before moving on to another activity (like playing), and if they refuse, they will lose that other activity. As the mom of my kids, I can tell when it’s totally an attitude thing versus a real problem like an illness or exhaustion or low blood sugar.

Even though I want reading to be enjoyable, sometimes getting to that point will be work. And teaching my child that work is part of life is never a bad thing.

3. I often fit “reading time” in with normal life. This means that after we get through the initial lessons and my child is more confident in reading, I often have a child sitting (or lying!) on a mat on the kitchen floor next to me or sitting on the couch, reading aloud, while I clean up breakfast dishes, fold laundry, or cook dinner. I stay close and keep an eye on their book and can usually direct them easily if they make an error or need a reminder about a certain sound, or can chat with them about the picture and discuss the story.

This way I can get through about two or three children’s reading lessons (usually the most I have in this learning stage is three kids at a time) while still getting through the regular household things that I need to accomplish for our family.

4. I never insist that we finish the book!

I have experienced now with several children that by the time they reach around lesson 75 (three-quarters of the way through the book), they have enough confidence and reading skills that they have already begun reading other books that they themselves have chosen, on topics they find interesting. THIS IS SUCCESS.

Some of my kids never go back to 100 Easy Lessons because they self-teach new words and sounds through other materials. (Often later they go back and read the fun stories at the end of each lesson, merely as an entertainment rather than a scholastic endeavor.)

And I cheerily put it back on the shelf to wait for the next upcoming reader, knowing it has successfully completed its mission of helping me teach reading to my child.

Booyah! Victory.

There you have it, the basic way I teach reading in my home. Up next: Part Three: How I cope with specific challenges like wiggly kids, meltdown-days, and learning difficulties.

How I’m Raising Eager Readers (Part One)

5 Things I Do to Create a Home Where Readers Thrive

My five-year-old, starting yet another chapter book.

Of my eight children aged 11 to 2 years, six are reading, most of them with great proficiency. My earliest reader was one of my sons, while he was still 3 years old. Our adopted son is also reading well within his age group, despite coming from another country with an entirely different language and no prior English experience.

The average age of children starting reading in our home is about age 4. I laugh and think by now it’s usually a matter of survival – with so many books and reading siblings around, the younger ones think it’s absolutely typical, and just figure that the earlier they get started the sooner they can join the fun!

Now I find myself frequently frustrated that someone is so lost in a book that they have neglected their chores or forgot to shower or are oblivious to my calling that dinner is on the table!

While a house full of bookworms lost in stacks of books is a commonplace scene for me, I have to admit that this is not just by chance.

Creating an environment where readers thrive is an intentional choice. As a parent, I have a direct impact on how my children view reading and books based on how I choose to incorporate them in our home.

Creating a Home Where Readers Thrive

We make space for books. While this may seem obvious, it is nonetheless important to note. Are there bookshelves or cupboards available for your children’s books which are easily accessible to them? Is there enough room for their libraries to grow as they do? Are shelves or places where books can be stored cluttered with other things like toys, games, knick-knacks, or outdated board books? Having a dedicated place for reading books is a great start to growing dedicated readers.

In our home we have many bookshelves – in fact, pretty much every room in the house has at least one bookshelf (except the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room). This means that we live in an environment surrounded by many books and it makes me so happy!

I have extra bins on the hearth in the living room that are specifically designated for the plethora of library books we lug home (I try limiting the number per kid but thus far I have been wildly unsuccessful). This helps keep the books more organized as well.

Books on lower shelves are generally designated for the younger children. Special reference books or more costly classics and adult literature are higher and thus less likely to be damaged by toddlers.

We make places for comfortable reading. Some of my kids want to read flopped on the floor on their bellies. Some love snuggling on the couch with blankets and throw pillows. Some wedge themselves tightly in the corner between the wall and the piano with their book. Some hide in their bed, some sit outside on a blanket… you get the picture. Each child has a preferred way of reading that allows them to be comfortable and concentrate.

If I want to encourage an environment of reading, it’s in my best interest to help enable the comfort of my reader, whether by providing a basket of smaller (easily washable) blankets in the living room, some durable floor cushions for those who want to lounge on the carpet, or ensuring they have a decent light source in their room (for my older kids). Even finding a smaller, kid-sized table and chairs can encourage reading habits since they are more comfortable in a space that fits them best.

We limit screen time. This one’s important. In order to encourage an atmosphere that fosters reading, I make it a priority to decrease access and exposure to screens, since any screen time (even the educational kind) seems to cause limited attention-span, deter creativity, minimize logical thought, and (in my personal experience) create negative attitudes and behavior that exponentially increases with the amount of screen time. When I notice my kids starting to whine about boredom and wanting to watch something, that’s my cue to carefully assess the time we’ve been permitting in front of a screen and to start assigning more books.

We set the example. The truth is that children will listen to what their parents say, but they are far more likely to imitate the behavior they see. If I want to raise children who are self-motivated learners, careful thinkers, and avid readers, this is the kind of person I need to be myself.

I grew up overseas with limited access to many modern conveniences. Books were something my family considered an essential, and my siblings and I reread our favorite chapter books and classic novels dozens of times. Books were a cherished source of information and entertainment. Now as an adult, being a voracious reader comes naturally to me.

Because my children see me (and their dad) reading often, they hear us getting excited discussing books and stories, and they observe me eagerly anticipating trips to the library, they also have assimilated this excited, positive attitude toward reading because it is normal for our household.

We read to the children. This should perhaps be the most obvious, but it is one of the most crucial pieces to implement in a home that wants to cherish readers. Reading out loud to my children is perhaps the most important way to grow their interest in and love of books.

Stories from the Bible, stories from classic literature, excellent children’s works by authors from around the world, modern fables and ancient myths, fairy tales and heartwarming family stories – humankind has always been fascinated and interested in stories, and my children are no different.

Even as we home school, reading snippets of great books for narration and copywork often whets their appetite for more of the same story, and often creates a need to make a new library run for more books!

Reading to the kids doesn’t have to be a long, onerous burden. Setting a timer for ten minutes, or even starting a routine of reading a chapter aloud of a good book while everyone else pitches in and folds laundry or colors in a coloring book is a way to incorporate reading at home.

Carefully observe your day and see where there are moments that might work for reading – even if it’s for only 10-15 minutes at a time. In a busy household, it’s important to be creative and flexible, but committed to reading.

To recap:

Here’s how we work to intentionally create a home environment that fosters a thriving group of young readers:

1. We make space for books.

2. We create places for reading comfortably.

3. We limit screen time.

4. We set the example.

5. We read to our kids.

Happy reading!

Up next: Part Two: What I Actually Use to Teach My Children How to Read